This collection of articles on the books of Laura Esquivel, and the film adaptation of her first book Like Water For Chocolate is intended for both students with little background in
Spanish-American literature and for those with a deep knowledge of it. Willingham (modern foreign languages, Baylor University) presents chapters on the life of Esquivel, a survey of literary
criticism of her work and an encomium from her friend Elenea Poniatowska Amor, before the essays on individual books. Esquivel's four novels are treated in chronological order. Several articles
look at the fluidity of gender roles in the books. One, on the kitchen space of central Mexico, makes it clear that this is a woman's domain. Other authors explore the tension in the books
between Catholicism and indigenous religions, native medicines and the refocusing of Mexican history. The final article puts Esquivel in the context of contemporary Latin-American writing.
Through it all, as in Esquival's writing, runs the theme of food as multiple metaphor. Distributed in the US by ISBS. Annotation 穢2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
